Falsifying history is good business

Chapter 360: The Writer's Empathy
As long as you have seen the movie, who can forget the classic look of the Terminator when he traveled through time?

As a viewer, you only need to marvel at Arnold Schwarzenegger's huge pectoral muscles in front of the screen; but if you enter the same scene as a party involved...

Lin You didn't know what went wrong with the time travel. When he used the "Sands of Time" in the game, there was no such problem. He didn't have time to think about it. He raised his hand to open the dimensional space and wanted to find a set of clothes from it.

Given the experience of traveling through story worlds many times, the emergency supplies in the dimensional space are becoming increasingly complete and abundant, covering all aspects of daily food, clothing, housing and transportation.

But what stunned Lin You was that the dimensional space was completely empty, even cleaner than his body, and not even a hair could be found.

"What the hell is going on?" Lin You muttered unhappily; but there was no time for him to investigate the truth, because there were voices and footsteps approaching.

The banks of the Thames outside London are either industrial areas or slums, not a desolate place.

The dark wood wand that was usually hidden in the dimensional space had long disappeared; fortunately, Lin You's wandless spellcasting was more proficient than any wizard, and his magic power was still there, and it did not disappear with the clothes and emergency supplies. He picked a few leaves from the roadside and performed Transfiguration, and finally put on clothes that could be seen in time.

The only problem was that Earl Goff usually liked exquisite clothing styles, which were out of place in the industrial area and slums at the moment, and inevitably attracted extra attention; he had to quicken his pace to leave everyone's sight, and then he belatedly cast an Illusion Spell on himself.

"The magic power is still there, the microcosm is still there, and neither has decayed. The quill pen is working fine... Yo ha, there is no monitoring from the gods in the time restricted area? What a pleasant surprise... Ahem... It should be said that it is really bad! Hmm, how come the holy cloth gem is also integrated into the soul?"

Lin You counted the supplies in his hand in confusion, feeling both happy and worried. He carefully condensed the Ophiuchus Cloth Stone again - this thing had previously been integrated into the microcosm, and then hidden in the soul with the microcosm as a medium.

Because it is hidden so tightly in the depths of the soul, it is not easy to analyze it again now.

"Now we can be sure that, except for the energy and matter carried by the body and soul, all other external things have disappeared. As for the disappearance of the supplies in the dimensional space, it should be because it is in a different time and space, so the opened dimensional space is not the one that originally stored the emergency supplies; or... the space is still the original space, but it is in a different time point, so the supplies in the space do not exist for the 'now'?"

Lin You thought as he walked, but he had too many guesses and even he himself was not sure; he was still unable to sort out the ideas until he entered the city.

"If you can't figure it out, just put it aside for now; let's first figure out the current time node... um, 1891." The newspaper that Lin You stole from the newsstand solved his first question; for today's writers, as long as they lower their own moral requirements a little, those emergency supplies in the dimensional space, including gold, are actually dispensable.

"The next question is, why 1891?" Getting the first answer was just the beginning. The next question gave Lin You a headache. "The time forbidden zone spans from 1840 to 1940. Why did I appear exactly between the two fifty years before and after?"

According to Chronos, the process of entering the time forbidden zone is completely uncontrolled; but this uncontrollability is relative to the outside world. There must be a logic inside the time forbidden zone that caused the author to appear at the time node of 1891.

This logic may be caused by Patrick Morgan or the main god of the Norse pantheon lurking in the time forbidden zone, or it may be triggered by a story related to the "unknown".

One after another, conjectures emerged in the writer's mind; some were ruled out as possibilities, while others remained to be determined. This trip was the first time that Lin You acted independently without any intelligence support, so he had to spend a lot of time looking for clues; not letting go of any clues.

On the other hand, finding clues may not necessarily be a good thing; because Lin You cannot be sure that when he finds Sir Morgan or a Nordic god, the other party will attack him as soon as they meet.

He was not even sure whether he could withstand the attack from the true God.

“If I really encounter danger, I wonder if this thing can be used as the last trump card.” Lin You looked inward with his mind, his sight fell on the depths of his soul, where the quill pen was floating.

"Can you tell me what you are thinking about now?" A familiar voice exploded in the ear, making the writer's hair stand on end instantly, as if a chill was rushing up from the spine to the brain.

A strong sense of danger urged Lin You to put on the golden armor immediately, but the surrounding environment and his remaining sanity prevented him from doing so.

It was too late to use the golden armor now - this was the conclusion Lin You came to rationally; his consciousness was tightly attached to the quill pen, and at the same time he slowly raised his eyes and looked in the direction where the sound came from.

Patrick Morgan was sitting on a bench on the street, smiling and greeting the writer. He was dressed like an orthodox English gentleman from the late 19th century, with a tall hat on his head, the brim of which covered half of his forehead. At the same time, his face was abnormally pale, his eyes were slightly dim, and he looked weak.

Lin You released his small universe slightly, and did not find any other powerful auras within the limited range; of course, it is also possible that he could not find any at all.

"You really are like a ghost, Sir Morgan. I can't get rid of you, can I?" Earl Goff walked forward and sat down. The two British aristocrats who did not belong to this era sat side by side on the streets of London.

"It hurts me to hear you say that; I have been waiting for this opportunity to have a safe and frank conversation with you." Sir Morgan emphasized the word "safe".

Lin You certainly noticed this as well. "What do you mean by 'safety'? Safety of the content of the conversation, or personal safety? If it's the latter, then I'm seriously lacking in security."

"You don't have to worry about your personal safety, because the 'safety' I mentioned obviously refers to the former." Sir Morgan had an eager yet reserved smile on his face. Anyone who saw him would think that he and the writer were just two good friends who met by chance on the street and were chatting. "As long as you don't take the initiative to contact the will of the great world, our conversation will not be known to any god. You should understand that there is no such opportunity outside the time restricted area."

Lin You kept his eyes fixed on Sir Morgan's eyes, but apart from the sincerity shown by the other party, he could not see any additional information; he leaned back in his chair and pondered, still unable to figure out the other party's true intentions.

As the capital of the world hegemon of this era, London's bustling streets are bustling with traffic and the sidewalks are crowded with people; countless passers-by in a hurry pass by the bench, but everyone ignores this bench without any prior agreement.

The two figures on the bench were obviously well-dressed and eye-catching, but they were inexplicably independent of the crowd and were ignored by everyone.

"How did you find me?" After a long silence, Lin You suddenly asked the first question, "It has been less than an hour since I entered this space and time."

"I am more familiar with the properties of the 'Sand of Time' than you think." Sir Morgan spoke with a hint of complacency.

"It's a bit unexpected. At first, I thought the Sands of Time were under the control of Ares, and it was he who created the time restricted area." "It's not surprising. I guess everyone or gods would think so, since he is the real god." Sir Morgan said with a sigh, "But you should also know the temper of the God of War. He is not the kind of person who can patiently handle delicate work.

According to his logic, strength comes first. Especially when facing the weak, he almost instinctively rejects complex and careful thinking and deployment; in his words, if he can be killed with a sword, what is the point of the other party being smart and making complicated plans? "

"And his divinity was taken away by you?" Lin You smiled contemptuously, full of ridicule towards Ares.

The God of Truth laughed loudly: "Ha... That was the most glorious achievement of my life; but unfortunately, Athena's reaction was too fast, leaving a little flaw in my victory."

The writer listened to the other person bragging and interrupted to ask, "You don't look well now. Are you injured?"

Sir Morgan's laughter stopped abruptly, and a sullen look appeared on his face: "Those branch gods of Asgard were quite ruthless. Not only did they fight in a group, but they also took the artifacts bestowed by the true God."

"So, your injury is real?"

“Of course, why would I lie about this?” Morgan rolled his eyes. “By the way, you’re not going to take advantage of this opportunity to do something, are you? Then I have to warn you, I’m not a pushover. Even though I was injured, those Nordic gods didn’t get any benefits.”

"Yeah, I know that too; however, if you hadn't left a portion of the 'Sand of Time', perhaps those Norse gods would have had a chance to get something, right?" Lin You ruthlessly exposed the truth behind the other party's escape.

"The Sands of Time were prepared long ago, and I had planned to return to the Forbidden Zone long ago; I just didn't expect it to be so hasty." Sir Morgan didn't seem to mind being exposed. "I was planning to meet you again before I came back!"

"Oh, what do you want to see me for? Are you trying to kindly remind me that you have betrayed me to the Norse gods? They already know that their secrets have been exposed to me?" Lin You asked with a sneer, "Then you are too slow."

The "God of Truth" spread his hands, as if to shirk responsibility; "Nothing in the world is perfect, and small accidents are inevitable. But the result is good, you have finally entered the time forbidden zone."

Lin You's expression instantly turned cold; after a bunch of polite conversation, the two sides finally got to the point.

"In other words, in your eyes, my entering the time restricted zone was a result that was destined to happen? Was this result 'created' by you, or 'discovered' by you?"

Hearing the writer's question, Sir Morgan smiled meaningfully. "Is this the issue you are most concerned about, writer?"

"Shouldn't I care about this issue?" Lin You asked back.

“No, no, I just feel sincerely happy—perhaps you don’t believe it, but it’s true.” Sir Morgan’s pale face flushed with red, highlighting his excitement at the moment, “Because you can finally empathize with those characters controlled by the quill pen.”

Lin You's face darkened when he heard this: "From your tone, I can hear undisguised ridicule."

Morgan sighed, "I'm sorry, but even gods cannot fake such sincere and strong emotions." It would be more accurate to say that He was making the final move rather than apologizing.

"Then in addition to your sarcasm, could Sir Morgan please take a moment to answer my question just now?" Lin You was not as angry as he looked.

Morgan waved his hand and said, "Don't be impatient, Writer; before answering your question, let's go watch some good plays. Of course, you may have seen them in the real dimension."

"What are you looking at?"

Morgan raised his index finger to indicate silence, and at the same time took out a golden pocket watch from his pocket, looking at the hands and counting down softly: "Three, two, one..."

As soon as the word "一" fell, a burst of noise came from the other end of the street; from a distance, a large number of people poured out of a building on the street, many of them yelling: "Fire, call the police, fire."

"Is that what you want me to see?" Lin You looked in the direction of the other person's gaze, and vaguely felt that the buildings and related scenes there seemed familiar.

"Don't be impatient, wait a little longer; oh, she comes out! Look, that lady is the protagonist of our drama today." Morgan raised his hand and pointed. The movement was so small that only Lin You noticed it.

In the direction Morgan pointed, a slender figure emerged from the chaotic crowd and shuttled through the streets like a fish; in the blink of an eye, it disappeared among the pedestrians.

"He was able to escape from the center of the incident in the first place and blend in with the rest of the crowd in time. That's a very outstanding anti-tracking skill, right?" Sir Morgan praised softly; the figure's actions could deceive human eyes, but could never escape the sight of God.

"If she wasn't outstanding enough, how could she become 'the woman' that Sherlock Holmes is obsessed with?" Lin You echoed; with just a glance, he recognized the person's identity.

Irene Adler - the same Irene Adler from the movie version of Sherlock Holmes.

Lin You not only recognized the other person's identity, but also used it to recognize the plot node where the other person was; this time and scene should be the scene at the beginning of the second story, when Holmes prevented a bomb assassination at an antique auction.

According to the storyline, Irene Adler is about to face the last moments of her life.

"Let's go, let's follow that lady." Sir Morgan invited Lin You, "Let's go witness the end of 'that woman'; or... witness it again?"

(End of this chapter)